No Words Wasted

I had the opportunity last evening to share my writing energy and passion, along with some of my writing, with dozens of women at our local AAUW chapter meeting. I thank my fellow presenter Diane for this opportunity and I appreciate the audience and the affirmation they provided to this writer.

It is an honor to talk about this practice that has guided my life for 45 years. As I told this group last evening, a bulk of my writing will never be published, or even read by others. Journals full of the details of my life through the years, including the emotions I was either tormented by or reveling in, or both. Journals full of daily gratitudes and prayers of intentions for others.

One set of journals I do hope are read are the ones I have filled from the time just before getting pregnant with our son Sam to his young adult life over twenty years later. Sam knows of these journals, several in number now. My hope is that as he grows into adulthood and has a family of his own, that it will become special reading material for him, or his wife, or his own children. Or all of them.

And as I typed those last couple of lines, I realized these journals to our son can also be something for me to read. I wrote them, but I haven’t ever read through their entirety. Maybe my husband Darcy will decide to take a look too. The dozens of other journals have also become reference books I sometimes pull from the shelf to confirm a timeline of events or to reclaim some of the details that have slipped away.

I have also written thousands of poems. Most of them will never see the light of a published day either. Some are too personal and others are, as Anne Lamott says, “sh***y first drafts” that may never get a second chance.

None of these words are wasted. None of the many hours over many years was wasted time either. Words begin in my heart and head, sometimes even inspired by my very soul. Then they make their way to pen, paper, and screen. Fully formed words, sometimes fully formed thoughts. Sometimes so raw and intense and precise that they surprise me too.

No words wasted. Instead, a treasure to add to and go back and uncover hidden gems. Write on!